Milwaukee County judicial race heats up with TV ad

A challenger for the circuit court bench in Milwaukee has launched a TV spot attacking the incumbent as a partisan Republican.

Janet Protasiewicz, a nearly 25-year veteran of the district attorney's office, is trying to unseat Judge Rebecca Bradley, a former corporate litigator appointed to the job by Gov. Scott Walker in November.

They survived a February primary that squeezed out lawyer Gil Urfer, who portrayed both his opponents as too ideological and partisan because Protasiewicz has been an active member of the Democratic Party and signed the Walker recall petition, and Bradley once belonged to the National Republican Lawyers Association and conservative legal groups.

Protasiewicz picks up on that theme in the 30-second TV spot, scheduled to begin airing Wednesday, according to a campaign news release. The ad opens with Bradley in black and white as the voice-over says that for Bradley "politics always seems to come first." Then Walker's face enters the frame as the narrator says Bradley was "hand picked" by Walker after making large donations to his campaign and that she worked with "extreme" groups that tried to make it harder to vote in Milwaukee County.

The spot then switches to more pleasant music and color video of Protasiewicz talking to people. The narrator describes her as strong, independent and, via DA John Chisholm speaking on camera, tough. (Chisholm had initially endorsed Urfer, before Protasiewicz entered the race at the last minute, and didn't switch his support until Urfer's primary loss.)

A database of campaign donations kept by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a group that tracks campaign spending and advocates for public financing of campaigns, shows Bradley made four donations to Walker's campaigns since 2005, totaling $1,750.

Bradley's campaign manager Nate Ristow said, "It is disappointing the Ms. Protasiewicz has resorted to desperate, misleading attack ads. Judge Bradley has earned bi-partisan support because, after presiding over hundreds of cases, she has proven to be a qualified, respected, and intelligent judge. Milwaukee County residents deserve better than Ms. Protasiewicz's divisive politics in their courtrooms."

The idea that big money or outside money might influence the Branch 45 race came up at a candidates' forum earlier this month. The conservative Club for Growth backed Bradley with radio spots in the primary, and a national Democratic campaign operative has come to Wisconsin to manage Protasiewicz's effort.

Last year, Carolina Stark, an administrative law judge with a lot of Democratic, labor and Latino support, took on incumbent Judge Nelson Phillips III, another recent Walker appointee, and wasn't shy about painting him as being cozy with Walker's viewpoints. Phillips, an African-American with stellar legal credentials and extensive, bipartisan support in the legal community, lost the election.

But it remains to be seen if the same dynamic will play out a year removed from Walker recall fervor, and with very low voter turnout projected for the April 2 election.

In heavily Republican Ozaukee County, a lawyer hopes the reverse effect can help him unseat incumbent Judge Thomas Wolfgram. Joseph Voiland's campaign has hammered on the fact Wolfgram signed the Walker recall petition.

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